Stop

Woke up exhausted this morning and I had two cups of coffee and now I feel worse. I should stop doing that. Going back to bed for an hour was probably the best choice at 8am.

I did a half marathon yesterday which was good I guess.

Here are a number of things that it’s better to stop doing when you’re a runner or a health enthusiast.

Stop beating yourself up mentally on the run – Negative self-talk is my forte and it never helps anything. Look for solutions to any problems you’re facing. Self-recrimination solves fuck all.

Stop worrying that you’re eating too little during the day – Have you eaten enough to survive? Probably. If you’re not hungry now, forcing yourself to eat will just make your day tougher when the hunger returns and you’re 4,000 calories in.

Stop trying to impress other people – Or you could lose sight of why you’re doing all this.

Stop thinking you’ll run better tomorrow – If you use that as an excuse to cut the effort short today, you’ll wake up tomorrow expecting tomorrow to be better. At some point, you have to seize the day and stop the excuses. Make today better and tomorrow will naturally follow.

Stop expecting it to suck – If you think it will suck, chances are it will.

Stop expecting miracles overnight – Aim to be consistent with small steps forward. Weekly progress is 4 steps forward and 3 steps back. You will learn more from the backward steps than the forward ones if you stop perceiving them as failures indicative of a personal flaw. If you have a flaw it can be fixed.

Stop frowning so much on the run – I have a resting bitch face when I run so much so that it’s been causing my face muscles to ache. My mother used to tell me that my face would “stay that way” if I continued frowning so much and she was right. I was getting headaches from scowling so much.

Stop listening to anything I write – If you haven’t already. I don’t know what I’m talking about.

1 Response

Hey mate, Just popped back into your blog again as I do every couple of months – it’s the only running blog (or blog in general) I read as you’re bloody hilarious and so honest. Always interesting to see where your at too, as it’s often something new and advnturous. Delighted you’re keeping at it & don’t let the demons get you down – you will get the better of them. I’m always here if you want to chat. All the best